Recently, there has been an increase in fake news stories and websites, which is concerning. Research done by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism suggests that 51% of people with online access use social media as their primary news source.

I remember sitting in a conference in Morocco listening to the Ogilvy MD, Matthieu Plassard, as he shared that marketing in Africa was less about selling products and more about solving problems. He highlighted that in a world where the share of wallet is limited, brands need to drive lifestyle solutions instead of products aimed at disposable income. Matthieu’s comment echoed the sentiment I have been hearing from underground conversations in marketing circles. Building solutions for people is fast becoming the most valuable marketing tool that marketers can spend their time doing. Brand love won’t come from lifestyle alignment and it won’t come from fancy content.

It’s always great to look at how celebrities use online marketing to build their brand and career. Over the last few years we have watched as Conan O’Brien receive a seemingly big blow to his career through a fall out with NBC. He has, however, managed to reinvent himself through this fall out, and has successfully used online marketing to rebuild his career. Let’s take a look at the lesson learnt:

Is it possible that marketers are out there raving about how data is the future, yet secretly hiding behind ‘data complexity’? All signs point to yes, and this is because they have not yet found out how to harness data in their marketing initiatives just yet. In essence, we believe in the impact of data but aren’t sure how it fits into our world yet. It’s more of a futurist idea than a real value-add today.

Gone are the days of promoting your brand, of talking it up as the coolest brand around so that the customer loves you. We are now in the age of the empowered consumer, and these customers are skeptical of traditional marketing tactics, all they see is a gimmick.